


flesh and bone

by honeyseong



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Blood and Gore, Dark fic, Demons are demons, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Indulgent, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, devildom is not good, don't know where i'm going with this but its fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23736445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyseong/pseuds/honeyseong
Summary: Devildom was never a place for humans.
Relationships: Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Everyone, Main Character/Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader, Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader
Comments: 21
Kudos: 77





	flesh and bone

You were tired. There was nothing waiting for you anymore, nothing to look forward to in the future. Reminiscing on the past always led to a dead-end, past regrets and loneliness looming over you like a wall you had long given up on breaking. And now— now you were in bed, covers tucked up to your shoulders, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioning as you stared blankly at the shadows on your ceiling. The city lights twinkled softly, the sleepy glow illuminating the ghost streets in the absence of the stars.

It was nights like this that made you feel more alone than ever. From the sun sinking down to resign for the day, to the gradual diminuendo of bustling city noises into an occasional whir of an engine. The unit across the street had just turned off its lights, drawn the blinds. Everyone retreated back into their homes at the end of the day. You were just one person among many— one person who no longer felt the need to return. You were someone who could choose to wander the streets for eternity, or lay down and rot to death in bed.

You tried to remember when things were better. It was painful, recalling images of past smiles and whole-hearted laughs that echoed through your body, feeling the gentle warmth of someone laying beside you. You shifted under the covers; the cold was seeping through the sheets. The sparkle in your eyes had long faded. The rush of blood through your veins was now a weak, trembling pulse underneath thin skin. You might as well have been dead, lacking the ability to feel anything but the emptiness caving into your heart. In these days that only seemed to get darker and darker, you were struggling to find your way home.

You were so tired.

So, with the last drop of energy in you, you cried and wailed until no sound came out.

In the middle of a starless night, an angel of death heard your call. When it took your hand, you felt the pressure on your chest lessen, air cold on your skin as you passed out under the shadows. You were certain you died that night.

\---

A dimly-lit courtroom adorned in purple tapestries and old-fashioned candelabras— that was the room you woke up in. It looked so surreal, moonlight streaming through the narrow windows, moon full and close— a large disc in the dotted sky. There were people on thrones, all in a single row, looking at you with mixed emotions that you couldn't quite discern. Then one of them spoke: a large man with red hair, welcoming you into Hell.

Devildom, they called it, but what significance did names have to the dead?

You let out a sigh through closed teeth, exhausted and confused. Demons were all around you, and you were supposed to be okay with that. Your hands were shaking, shoulders tense. It might have been easier if you hadn’t seen the way they looked at you. Their eyes were dark, inhuman. It was impossible to ignore the way their teeth glinted whenever they smiled. Why couldn’t you have just died and passed on to the Celestial Realm? No one wants to eat a spirit, right?

This was atonement for your sins, and nothing could tell you otherwise.

While walking to your next class, you mentally prepared to face another set of demons. Your previous teacher had called on you three times during the lesson, bringing you up to the front to answer a question on the board. In reality, you were certain he just wanted to show off fresh prey to the class. Were you really the first human exchange student?

A hand snaked over your waist, snapping you out of your thoughts. You let out a squeak, goosebumps forming along your skin.

“Hey there, pretty human.” It was Mammon, the Avatar of Greed and your newly assigned guardian. He pulled you closer to his side. You could smell burnt cinnamon and old money. “Glad you haven’t gotten eaten yet.”

You didn’t respond. Or more accurately, you couldn’t respond, for your voice was caught in your throat. You found it very hard to believe that a demon would protect you, especially when that demon was a selfish, greedy bastard who most likely had eaten a human before. Your fight or flight response was already activated just by his touch.

“Oi, I was just kidding. Don’t freeze up on me now, got it? We have math class in a minute and I don’t have a clue about any of that shit.”

Though your mind screamed at you to run, you couldn’t find the courage to pull away from his side.

“And by the way,” he stopped in his tracks to face you. “Don’t be scared of those lower-rate, garbage demons. I don’t let others touch what’s mine.”

You felt your face flush, followed by the immediate need to hurl from fear. What was wrong with you? Why couldn’t you just put on a brave face and make it through the day? Tears started to blur your vision, but you managed to choke out a sentence in response.

“I’m not yours.”

Mammon just smiled, gripping your shoulder painfully tight. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

Later that day, when you were changing into the casual clothes they had given you, you saw a purple bruise blooming in that exact area.

Things didn’t really get better. The food they had served so far was completely inedible for humans (poison wasn’t exactly a salad dressing you were used to). So it came as a surprise when dinner that night was delectable. You had just finished your plate of high-grade steak when you looked up to see the demon brothers staring at you, wicked smiles on their faces. You glanced at Mammon sitting beside you, hoping for some kind of explanation.

Lucifer was one who spoke.

“Did you enjoy dinner?” He was sneering at you from across the table.

“U-Umm, I did! Thank you!”

Something was off.

“Oh?” The demon drew closer, leaning towards you to dab a napkin on your lips.

“I didn’t think you’d like human meat this much.”

What.

What??

“I- W-... Wh- What?” You felt the blood leave your head.

“You heard me.”

At this point, you were shaking, laughing nervously like a maniac as you stood up to go to your room. No one stopped you.

Turning on the lights, you wobbled to the bathroom, crying. In between hiccups and sobs, you knelt by the toilet and forced two fingers down your throat, immediately puking. It stung, and your mouth tasted like death, but you continued to hurl until nothing came out. You were struggling to stay conscious.

You had eaten a human. They were eating humans. You’d only been here for one day and it was already Hell.

What did you expect?

You wiped your mouth, drank a cup of water and brushed your teeth, trying to compose yourself once more with tears streaming down your cheeks. Staying in your room would’ve been ideal, but you knew you had to go back outside before they tried hunting you down. Walking down the hallway, you saw a familiar figure heading towards you.

Then, it happened quickly.

Torso ripped open, lungs burning like hell, throat gurgling blood, it only took a few seconds before the light faded from your eyes. You watched yourself exit your body, a mangled mess at the hands of Mammon, your supposed caretaker. The pain was like nothing you’d ever experienced, a sensation that seemed to linger even past death, resonating within your soul. This was what real death felt like. His eyes were dark as he held your body— caressing it, almost— as he ripped out your heart. Blood gushed onto the walls as he sank his teeth into the meat, hunched over like some kind of creature gorging on its beloved prey. You continued to watch, eyes glued to the crime scene as he tore out the muscle from your bones, wolfing it down as if he hadn’t eaten in days. His usually snowy hair was now tainted crimson, red locks stuck to his face. You could smell the iron leaking from your body. In some screwed up way, it was… beautiful. Then, your vision ceased and there was nothing.

The transition was almost instantaneous from the moment you died, eyes snapping open to a perfectly intact body: pearly white bones still surrounded by muscle, eyeballs still in their sockets, and a heart still beating in your chest. You clutched your uniform, breathing heavily, feeling for any trace of blood or sweat to tell you that what had happened was real. You couldn’t find anything. Your uniform was impeccable, not a stain or wrinkle. Your mouth couldn’t remember the taste of blood. What had just happened?

There wasn’t anyone around you at that moment, so you tried to recall the situation you were in. It was your first day as an exchange student. You were standing in the Hall of Lamentation. Mammon had just killed you. Was that just a dream?

A creak from the floorboards. You jumped in shock, disgusted that you felt relieved to feel a heartbeat in your chest. The vision still had a chokehold on you. What was happening? How were you still alive?

Those questions remained unanswered as you finally moved to walk toward— a steady pace that you struggled to maintain from your ever-trembling figure as you tried to make sense of the strange vision.

“Hello?” you decided to call out, but even the echo of your voice didn’t rouse anything in the vicinity. You checked your pockets for some kind of clue. A cold metal surface made contact with your palm: your D.D.D. Entering your password, you found no new notifications, but checked the clock. It was night. 

You accidentally opened the contacts app, to see Mammon’s name at the top of the list.

Just seeing his name made you anxious. No, that was an understatement. It was to the point where you could feel a painful sensation clawing at your chest, like a ghost of the aforementioned demon hunting for your heart again. You gasped for breath, not knowing what to do. 

“Yo! What are you doing out here?”

Fuck. Speak of the devil.

“Uh. Hi, Mammon.”

“You shouldn’t be alone out here in Devildom, y’know?”

“S-Sorry, I just got lost and-“

“Someone might just come by and gobble you up.”

You hated his expression: a mix between hostility and pride and just pure, unadulterated hunger.

That was the last thing you saw— that terrifying look on his face as he lunged towards you.

“Eh, what a shame. You were so cute, too.”

Once more, you were forced to watch yourself die— watch the blood seep out from the slashes across your skin, watch your limbs get torn apart, the dark liquid spurting onto his clothes and collecting in a pool by your lifeless head. Your eyes had long since closed, but you could still see, watching from above. Everything was red. From your corpse to the floor to the face of your killer. Then everything was white again. That sickly nothingness.

You woke up in the same hall. You knew it wasn’t a dream anymore. Instinctively reaching for your chest, your hands were met with solid bone. You sighed. How could you even escape this? At least you knew the time loops were easily altered. Just by checking your D.D.D, Mammon had talked to you before… murdering you.

Once more, you walked down the cursed hallway. Once more, you turned around and saw Mammon, his silhouette casting a gleaming shadow across your figure as he drew close. Once more, you shivered in your blazer. The hall felt so cold.

“D-Don’t fucking touch me.” You could barely recognize the voice that came out of your mouth. It was broken and raspy and desperate but you were so terrified that you couldn’t care. 

“Oi, what’s with the sudden hostility?”

The painful expression was permanent on your face.

“Get the fuck away from me.” You sounded pathetic.

“I guess you know what’s going on. Listen, I’m the Avatar of Greed. If I want something, I’m getting it.”

“No-”

He ripped out your throat this time, certainly the most painful out of the three deaths. It was clutched tightly in his hand, and you could see the inside of your neck, a horrifying emptiness. You couldn’t bear to watch the rest, allowing your soul to be taken again into the false light, the white nothingness that would spring you into another chance to be devoured.

But this time you waited. You waited for what seemed to be minutes, floating in limbo when you heard someone call your name. 

The voice was soft and angelic; a strange change from the guttural noises you always heard at the moment of your death. You were half conscious, unable to make out the words uttered. But as the light consumed your transparent body, you heard something.

Don’t give up.

How cliche. Confused, you found yourself awake again and with terribly clammy hands. Who was that? Perhaps a fragment of your own conscious fighting to survive? And what was with that message? 

You continued to think as you took in your surroundings. It was much colder than before. You checked your D.D.D. Was anything different? You chose not to walk forward, remaining in place and simply turning around to face the opposite direction. Shivering, you pulled your jacket closer to yourself, a frown etched onto your face as you waited for your murderer to come around the corner. 

A flash of white hair.

“Are you going to kill me again?” You took no time to blurt out the question. You weren’t just going to keep accepting your fate.

“Again?” The demon furrowed his brow, halting his steps. 

There were no scars visible on your skin, but everything stung like hell.

You wanted to live.

Mammon took a step forward, the sound loud to your worn senses.

“Please don’t.”

The frown on Mammon’s face deepened as your voice broke, tears shining on your face. He remained silent.

“I’ll do anything.” 

Another step. His muscles tensed.

“I’ll become your servant.” You were yelling and crying at this point, a pathetic sight.

A beat.

“Why are demons always the ones being pulled around by pacts, when humans are clearly the weaker species?”

You were trembling, salty tears already blurring your vision as you looked at the floor.

“Not bad for a human. Know your place. But what were you going on about earlier? Killing you... again?”

No sound left your throat. You could hardly breathe.

“You can talk, can’t you? Anyway, if you’re serious, the next time you revive, let’s hope the next version of me listens.”

He gave you no time to respond. In a flash, you felt a sharp pain in your head as it was split open. Crumpling to the ground, you were paralyzed. All you could feel was the coldness of the blood pooling around you.

There was nothing left in you. Dirt swept under the rug, flame extinguished, drenched in blood and smelling like death. You were so tired. At that moment you couldn’t think about the demon in front of you or your brains spilling out onto the cold wood. Everything was quiet, your body completely still. As soon as you closed your eyes, the emptiness took you again.

“...”

You heard bells by your ear. The strange, sweet voice from last time was persistent in talking to you.

“Who are you?” you asked, but you couldn’t hear your voice in the nothingness of the void.

“...”

“Please...” you were desperate.

“...Lillith.”

“Why are you here?”

“Hide.”

You woke up with a burning headache. The hall was still empty. Swiftly, you ran into your room and bolted the door. The demon would have certainly been able to break through if he wanted to, but you hoped you’d be lucky this time.

And well, you were. For that moment at least.

You were alone in your room, heart drumming in your chest as you tried to calm down and sleep. You cried again, and fortunately, no one came.

**Author's Note:**

> going to try making a multi-chapter work. wish me luck.


End file.
